Monday, March 30, 2009

Bask in the glow of video stardom

Advertising Age had a great article in their e-newsletter this week about how to make your online video go viral. Definitely a good read if you want to exploit your friend's embarrassing faceplant - or promote a corporate video. Either or.

Here are the cliff notes:

1) Speed smartly: Post it where you're most likely to find the right demographic
2) Think deep, not wide: Post to 3-5 sites, reach out to targeted press and users, and aim to climb that "most watched" list at a handful of sites
3) Don't spell it out: from a creative standpoint, leave room for interpretation

Labels: video, viral marketing

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Online retailers lost $21 billion in 2008

With bail-outs and stimulus packages using the "750 Billion" and "2.3 Trillion" dollar amounts, a mere $21 Billion would almost go unnoticed if it wasn't for the fact that this number is how much online retailers lost in 2008 to the fear of identify theft and customer satisfaction.

According to a study, consumers are fleeing from purchasing online for many overriding factors; security being one. The study also sites that consumers were less than thrilled with the quality of product and delivery. Of those who will continue to shop on line, which is a greatly reduced number, they will shop at larger, more recognizable companies feeling that their security systems are more protective.

The article goes on to list various suggestions for e-tailers to garner more trust from potential customers by highlighting a few points on their site to instill confidence in the shopper.

Labels: e-commerce, retail

Monday, March 23, 2009

10 tips for making it to the In-Box

I attended a webinar on Friday put forth by Vertical Response Inc that gave some great insight about improving email deliverability. Aside from common-sense tactics like maintaining list hygiene and complying with CAN-SPAM laws, here are some other great little pointers that may help your message make the In-Box.

Email practices that may get you blocked, or flagged as Spam:
1) Using "Dear" in your salutation
2) Maintain a poor text/image ratio (the more text the better)
3) Not emailing your subscriber within 3 months of opting in
4) Including third party vendor links within your email

Other tips:
5) Set up an account with all major email platforms (AOL, Yahoo, Gmail etc) and add them to your distribution list to see how your emails translate
6) Encourage users to add your email to their address book
7) Send messages based on engagement (IE: send different emails to your non-responders vs. your clickers)
8) When designing your email use in-line CSS HTML coding vs. external
9) Send a welcome message to subscribers upon opting-in advising them on your content and frequency (many do this within the opt-in form too)
10) If you receive an abnormally high bounce rate, check to see if there's anything different about that email blast vs. ones you normally have success with. For example, little things like changing your From tag from "ABC Company" to "Bob Smith" may get your message bounced.

Labels: email marketing

Thursday, March 19, 2009

First time online givers often never return

A New York Times article reports that people who go online to make a first time donation more often than not do not return to make future donations. The study examines 24 nonprofit groups and the study was done by Target Analysis Group.

Whereas the demographics of an online giver are very attractive; upscale, well educated etc. they rarely give an additional gift.

Why? Is it because they were swayed by media outlets to give to a natural disaster (IE Katrina or the Asian Tsunami) and are not really involved with the nonprofit's cause? Another possibility is that donors who give online are often dumped into that charities DM file and are solicited by there standard DM methods. Maybe they should be segregated into online and offline and solicited separately. (If you're not already doing that).

This is the $64,000.00 question. How to break into this market in a meaningful way.

Labels: fundraising, nonprofit

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Having another cup?

According to a study out of Durham University in England and published in January of this year, people who consume high amounts of caffeine are more prone to hearing voices and having hallucinations. The study interviewed 219 students about their caffeine consumption and their paranormal experiences. (No mention was made of any other substances the students might have had in their bodies.) In the top 10% of caffeine users, (equal to more than 7 cups of instant coffee or 8 cups of tea per day) 9 out of 22 students reported hearing things when no one was there. In the bottom 10%, (equal to the amount of caffeine in less than 1 cup of instant coffee per day) only 3 out of 22 students reported hallucinations.

Does caffeine cause hallucinations? Or do people who would hear and see things drink more caffeine to cope with their hallucinations (“Juan Valdez told me to do it, I swear!!”)? One possible explanation: When under stress, the body releases Cortisol, a stress hormone. According to scientists, more Cortisol is released in response to stress when people have recently had caffeine. It is this extra boost of Cortisol that may link caffeine intake with a tendency to hallucinate.

More on the study can be found at Durham University’s website.

Labels: caffeine, coffee

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Will the Administration reconsider charitable tax deductions?

Over the past few weeks the Administration has been wavering over how to fund the new stimulus package. One recommendation was to limit the percentage of deductions for charitable donations along with limits on deductions for home mortgages. An article in the Wall Street Journal sites that this could have lost donations over $4 billion dollars if done in 2006. Who knows how much it could hurt in 2011 when it is proposed to begin. Now the Administration may be reconsidering this but it is still very unclear.

As the article points out, we'd like to think that people donate out of a desire to do good but let's face it... a healthy tax deduction can go a long way to loosen the purse strings and feel just as good.

Labels: fundraising, nonprofit

Time Inc. launches PeoplePets.com

In the Ides of the superstar blog ICanHazCheeseburger.com it makes sense that Time Inc. would capitalize on a new wave of pet audiences and launch PeoplePets.com. Plus they've done it incredibly well...

What makes this site so great is that it's fun. There are plenty of products on the market already that cater to providing information about pet care, but what this site does is it lets the reader engage with the site and its community, almost as a form of recreation. Users can post pictures about their pets, answer polls, enter contests, give their opinion, pick up on pet trends and more.

I don't even own a pet right now (sadly) and I like it! ...And apparently, so do the advertisers.

Labels: client

Monday, March 9, 2009

2008 year end fundraising results for benchmarking

The Agitator shared some cliff notes from a Mal Warwick Associates report about direct mail returns seen from their clients' mailings. The majority of clients saw a decline in mailings; with the bulk being acquisition.

Good news in this economy... most saw a slight increase in revenue per piece. End result per Peter Schoewe; "the bottom did not fall out of direct mail fundraising". I’m thankful for this news. Comments?

Labels: fundraising, nonprofit

Friday, March 6, 2009

Some new ground rules for the NP sector

Over the decades standards and protocols in the DM non-profit arena, as in all industries, have evolved and diminished to stay in line with the ever changing economic, legislative, cultural, and political trends. However, there has been no real oversight and documentation to reflect these changes. The term “industry standard” started to mean different things to different organizations.

In an effort to get everybody back on the same page a group of list brokers and managers, including Mike Kertelits and myself, whose clients are mainly in the non-profit market, got together and constructed a comprehensive initiative clarifying standards of conduct. Headed by Patrick Frame of List Services/FL, the group brainstormed since last summer and finally completed this initiative a few weeks ago. A job well done.

Here’s the link: http://www.npliststandards.com/. If it pertains to you, I would strongly advise you read it through to get up to speed.

Labels: list rental, nonprofit

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Martin goes one-on-one with List Insider

There was a really nice interview with our Marty in the February issue of List Insider. Check it out. You'll get the skinny on how he got started in the list business, who his mentors were, his biggest challenges and more.

Of coarse the piece did not mention anything about his experience building pumpkin air cannons, or space ships out of 4 wheel drive Subarus - but hey, I guess you have to set your parameters somewhere.

Labels: employees, interviews

Monday, March 2, 2009

What can we learn from the Obama Camp? Find out April 1

On April 1st, Digital Marketing World is putting on a free virtual conference covering everything from social media to marketing ROI. But the best part - a 45 min Keynote Presentation by David Plouffe, Campaign Manager from Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential Campaign. What he'll be talking about:

+ How to harness the power of social networking to connect a dispersed group of people and engage them to perform outstanding feats
+ Innovative ways the campaign built brand loyalty and how these same tactics can be used by your organization
+ Why consistent leadership sets a tone that can inspire creativity and passion to achieve surprising results

Just register here and you're good to go. Maybe I'll even "see" you there!

Labels: conference, marketing, social media

1/3 of all cancers in the US could be prevented

That was one portion of the ground-breaking news reported on Friday, February 26th when AICR/WCRF launched the most comprehensive report on cancer prevention policy ever undertaken.

An e-newsletter from AICR on friday said "We can prevent over 45% of colon cancer cases and 38% of breast cancer cases in the U.S. by making changes in our diet, physical activity and weight control... The new WCRF/AICR Report is called Policy and Action for Cancer Prevention - Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective. The report tells us what kinds and how many cancer cases can be prevented, and it details 48 specific policy recommendations that would significantly reduce the burden of cancer now affecting more than 1.4 million Americans every year."

The link above will take you to a landing page where you can view further video coverage or download a PDF of the entire report. Donations can also be made directly to the organization and their cause here.

AICR's strides towards cancer research and prevention is truly remarkable. RMI is so proud to have been a part of their fundraising efforts for over 20 years. We congratulate you all on your hard work and continued dedication.

Labels: client

Monday, March 30, 2009

Bask in the glow of video stardom

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Online retailers lost $21 billion in 2008

Monday, March 23, 2009

10 tips for making it to the In-Box

Thursday, March 19, 2009

First time online givers often never return

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Having another cup?

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Will the Administration reconsider charitable tax deductions?

Time Inc. launches PeoplePets.com

Monday, March 9, 2009

2008 year end fundraising results for benchmarking

Friday, March 6, 2009

Some new ground rules for the NP sector

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Martin goes one-on-one with List Insider

Monday, March 2, 2009

What can we learn from the Obama Camp? Find out April 1

1/3 of all cancers in the US could be prevented

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